At some point in time, someone has to stand up and say enough is enough with this type of crap.

Here we go again.

The bottom feeders have once again reinforced the notion that Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut.

Take a look a the comments from the News-Times article on the case of Tereza Pereira

This cockroach judge needs to be tossed off the bench and the illegals need to get the boot without hesitation sans their anchor larvae. This case may set a precedent that could devastate this country. Somebody needs to find out who appointed this imbecile judge.

[...]

Illegals who squirt out "anchor babies" should not be rewarded with citizenship. This should be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. We need to revise the laws so that these illegals who breeds like rodents don't get their offspring made US Citizens. This judge should be removed from the bench. He obviously has no respect for the law.

The venom in the comment section of the News-Times has been an eyesore since it's creation and and contributed to people around the country looking at Danbury with bewilderment. The poisonous venom from the bigots has also alerted such hate-monitoring organizations as the Southern Poverty Law Center to keep an eye on the anti-immigrant activity in the area.

Faced with the overwhelming evidence that the comment section is nothing more than a breeding ground for a small minority of xenophobes to flood the board with inflammatory comments, it's apparent that the time has come for residents to speak out and request that the newspaper seriously consider scrapping the commenting service altogether and revert back to the older "forums" format of the past.

Let's go back and take a look at some of the News-Times most offensive comments to date (in no particular order):

July 27 2007: Threats against immigrant rights supporters and politicians:

DisNoir36, your statements and attitude make it quite obvious that you have not felt any of the repercussions/effects of the unmitigated flow of Illegals into the American work force. You must be very well insulated in your career and not need to compete against these cutthroats. Many of us on the other hand have been severely affected.

[...]

If as you say “Rell just perpetuated the existence of an underclass by denying them an opportunity to get quality higher education and move up…” is true; then I say good! Good let them be relegated to mowing our lawns, serving and cleaning our tables at restaurants. Why should we educate them so that they can further debase our way of life? The children of those who have come here Legally receive the benefits as they should. These others should do what it takes to become residents the right way not expect to be excepted into our society simple because they were adept at scurrying across our borders like rats or took advantage of being allowed to enter the country on a Visitors Visa to become a squatter.

And, before anybody make a crack about not choosing where they were born. Very Very Few of these kids were born there the majority of them were spirited across the border in the same manor as their parents arrived there and are just as Illegal as they are!

“I seriously wonder what will happen with all you haters if this immigration bill does pass. Somehow I doubt the hatred will simply dissipate once the question of 'legality' is removed from the equation.”

I predict violence, lots of well deserved violence. Violence; toward the Illegals and unfortunately violence toward some Legal citizens who are mistaken for Illegals. And I sincerely hope, violence against “our legislators”/government for selling out The People to the interests of the uber-capitalists and lining their pockets with the ill-gotten gains of it all.

July 16th 2007: News-Times article on Ridgefield's plan for a dog park.

They should make parks for other animals to play in, too: Brazilians, Ecuadorans, Dominicans- pretty much anyone of negroid ancestry. Keep the public safe!!

Jun 11 2007: Comment posted in response to editorial:

Danbury would be a nice place to live if there weren't so many niggers and spics.

August 11 2007: Comment to the Santos family immigration article in which someone impersonates 17 year old female family member Rayany Santos:

Hi everyone - thanks for all the support. It's really not as bad as the newspaper makes it out. I just go along with them because they said they needed a real "sob" story. They said people would probably send me money and stuff.

Anyhow, I'm having a great time on my own. I can stay out and party and have all my boyfriends over! It's the coolest! I don't miss my brothers at all. They were lame. They would always put boogers in my hair and fart and stuff - yuck!

Well, now that I'm on my own I'm looking for an older guy to take care of me. If there are any guys out there who want to get together give me a call! (17 is legal in CT ya know!) I love to party and I'm totally easy!

Love - XOXOXO

April 29 2007: Comment regarding anti-immigration forum held at Western. TAKE NOTE OF THE NAME (hint, spell it backwards).

Posted by: Reggi_Nytrid Sat, Apr 28 2007
I have to admit that I'm surprised by the levels of hatred and racism displayed on these boards. I thought people in CT were a little bit more enlightened than that.
Also, who is this boredwithbs character? Is he nuts or what? And what kind of a name is aidsfromatoiletseat? I find that very offensive.

March 25 2007: Comments in response to sex offender notification article:

They should also insert a side note warning how the city can't keep the spics out. These animals care about following laws about as much as sex offenders.

Oh course, I saved the best for last...

From April 27, 2007, here's my post on the murder of Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues and the family's reaction to the News-Times comments regarding his death.

Although people received their information about the stabbing of Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues from the News-Times, you really realize how limited the mainstream media is when it comes to reporting on issues in the immigrant community (as well as how insensitive they are when it comes to allowing hate-mongers to post racist comments) once you read the Emanuela Lima's write-up on the murder in this week's Tribuna newspaper.

Her piece chronicles the impact the murder had on everyone effected by this tragedy as well as the outrage from the community over the disgusting, hate-filled, racist comments that were posted on the News-Times website. The paper has been widely criticized for doing a horrible job in monitoring their comments section and many in the media who I know are astonished that the paper hasn't apologized for the unfortunate incident).

All Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues wanted to do in United States was to work hard and save enough money to buy his own house and give his parents a more comfortable life Brazil.

In the early morning hours of April 15, Rodrigues’ plans were cut short, literally – he was murdered with a single stab wound to the chest in the kitchen of the one-bedroom apartment he shared with other five men. Only one of the roommates was not at the apartment when the murder occurred, shortly before 2:11am; the other four told Danbury police they were asleep.

They were awakened by the sound of a thud when Rodrigues’s body hit the floor and realized soon after, that Laudimilson Teixeira, one of the roommates, was gone.

[...]

“THIS IS ABOUT A HUMAN BEING”

On April 16, the medical examiner’s office in Farmington asked that a family member identify the victim’s body. Adriana said her mother had been in a state of complete emotional shock and was unable to do so, “I had to go – it was the worst experience of my life.”

When Adriana returned home and logged on to her computer to check for news on the arraignment, she was shocked by the comments posted by on-line readers at the News-Times website in response to articles about the murder, “How can people not see that this is about a human being? How can they be so disrespectful?”

She was referring to the nature of the comments related to her uncle’s undocumented status, such as “The bottom line here is that if these illegals were not here this death would not have occurred” or “They should have the funeral in front of the INS building and see if anyone comes.”

Elke Probst, is the owner of the Belmont Circle property where Graças resides, was also taken back by some of the comments. “I just hope people are able to place themselves in this family’s shoes and give them the support they need by rallying together as a community” said Probst.

At this point, the editors of the News-Times should contact the members of Rodrigues' family and apologize to them as they had to endure the disgusting comments that weren't deleted from their site. To allow the bottom-feeding racists to spout their hatred freely is a disgrace and brings shame to the city as a whole. The News-Times has a responsibility to remove hate-speech from their site and it's apparent that they have a serious problem monitoring themselves. They should get rid of the comments altogether and keep the chatter from readers in the forums.

January 21 2008: Comment regarding the death of Rene Perez. An immigrant who was allegedly beaten and left on a desolate road to die by the hands of a police officer.

An outraged reader forwarded me this truly disgusting comment from the News-Times board. The comment was in response to the story on a homeless immigrant who was allegedly beaten and dumped on the road for dead by a police officer.

Now lets break down this "comment" and expose the ugly.

1. The username of the comment is "el ilegal borracho." Now, we'll just assume that the person who made this remark isn't the brightest person on his street so we'll give him/her a pass on the incorrect spelling of the word illegal. The Urban Dictionary defines the word "borracho" as the following:

Mexican or Chicano slang for a drunkard.

2. The address of the user is "Bedford/Mount Kisco/Guatland." For those who don't know, the term "guat" is defined as the following:

A racist name for any individual of Guatemalan heritage.

Basically, calling someone a "guat" is the same as the term "nigger" or "spic".

3. The comment speaks for itself:

Dirty racial police men hate us immigrunts. we just come to U.S. for better licor. Lazy americans have too much licor so we come to help drink. drity selfish americans need to help us when we drunk.

4. The photo used by the jerk who made this comment is Rene Perez, THE PERSON AT THE CENTER OF THE ARTICLE WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY BEATEN AND DUMPED ON THE STREET FOR DEAD BY THE POLICE.

5. Finally, the IP address is from Danbury so it's safe to assume that the person who made this comment is indeed from Danbury.

• This comment has been on the News-Times board since Saturday.

• This comment has probably been read by the Perez family who are still in a state of mourning.

• This comment should have been removed instantly.

• Comments like this reinforce the belief among many in this state that Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut.


• Local embarrassments such as Joel Urice and Pauline Basso probably think this is a joke.

• Thank the News-Times for not monitoring their message boards good enough. At some point they should consider removing the comment feature all together and save the "comments" for their forum section.

• Thank the mayor for creating an racially insensitive environment where this type of nonsense goes on openly a daily basis and idiots like Elise Marciano can give the impression that she has common sense (with or without the sheet).

Now, as with the case with former monitor Elizabeth Putnam, current online editor Keith Whamond can only do so much and keep this type of offensive material off the site and has done a better job in removing the garbage than in the past.

But, the question still remains...

As the level out outrage and anger rises in the city, the newspaper should consider whether or not comments are better suited in the forums section as opposed to attached to articles as most rants have nothing to do with the articles and more to do with spewing hatred. This in turn only adds fuel to the racial division in the city and reinforces the notion that "Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut" in the minds of people outside the area.